FOOTBALL NEWS
Barclays Premier League
Old Trafford, 23 December 2007
MANCHESTER UNITED 2
Ronaldo 22, 88 (pen)
EVERTON 1
Cahill 27
Summary: United 2 Everton 1
Cristiano Ronaldo kept his nerve to nudge United within a point of leaders Arsenal when he stepped up to score a late winner from the penalty spot.
It was Ronaldo's sixteenth goal of the season and his second of the game. He fired the Reds in front midway through the first half when he cut inside to unleash a left-foot rocket past Everton goalkeeper and his former team-mate Tim Howard.
United's lead lasted just five minutes however - Tim Cahill equalising for Everton with a header from Steven Pienaar's left-wing cross.
Pienaar turned from hero to villain for Everton in the dying moments of the match, conceding the crucial penalty with a foul on Ryan Giggs.
Full report to follow...
United: Kuszczak, Simpson (O'Shea, 45), Brown, Vidic, Evra; Ronaldo, Carrick (Saha, 71), Anderson (Fletcher, 86), Giggs; Rooney, Tevez. Subs not used: Heaton, Nani.
Bookings: Rooney, Evra, Anderson.
Everton: Howard; Hibbert, Yobo, Jagielka, Lescott; Carsley, Cahill (Anichebe, 85), P Neville, Pienaar; Yakubu (Gravesen, 76), Johnson. Subs not used: Wessels, McFadden, Nuno Valente.
Bookings: Cahill, Hibbert, Pienaar.
